Back in November, InterContinental Hotelsreopened the former Ritz-Carlton in Sydney’s Double Bay as its second property in the city, following a multi-year closure and renovation of the hotel. Many a hotel in the central business district, including the ‘other’ InterContinental, can give you the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House views the city is famous for, but back in the day the likes of Madonna, Bill Clinton, and Princess Diana all opted to stay here instead. We wondered why, so we made the 15-minute cab ride to Double Bay and peeked inside the Royal Suite to find out.

Set on the hotel’s fifth floor, the Royal Suite is a one-bedroom suite with living room, study, bedroom, ensuite bathroom, powder room, dining room, pantry, and option for a connecting bedroom. The contemporary design really worked for us, with pale herringbone hardwood floors, white walls, and dark wood – but the real draw is in the direction of the light streaming in through the arched windows.

This is definitely not your mother’s penthouse suite, but for its unique design, funky features, and creative amenities, could be the “mother of all penthouses” for the hip (or hip hop) Manhattan lifestyle seeker.

The zany world of hotel penthouse design just got a new entry and the bar is now officially raised. Dream Hotels, the artsy brand that dares to go where no one else goes, has unveiled the new GuestHouse at Dream Downtown. With its vibrant design and endless amenities, sleeping is probably not high on the list of things to do.

After hearing about the special Signature Suites inside the Loews Regency New York since last summer, including one designed by Nate Berkus, this hotel design nerd was pretty excited to finally get to explore every high-end nook and cranny at an event hosted by Loews earlier this week. Here are her reactions:

Fort Worth is well-known for its friendly rivalry with Dallas, one that pins the country feel of the former against the modern development of the latter. But there's a ying and yang within Fort Worth itself as well. Downtown Fort Worth is developing nicely into a mini-metro, yet the Stockyards remain frozen in time, a tribute to the city's origins as a town of cowboys and cattle.

Experiencing this contrast between city and cowboy when visiting Fort Worth is a must, and your hotel selection can go a long way towards achieving this.

We said over the summer that entry-level Luxury Kings at the newly renovated Loews Regency Hotel in New York are a pretty excellent room choice already, but now, as the hotel wraps up its overhaul, it’s adding more choice with six designer-led Signature Suites.

You guessed right that one of those designers is Oprah’s own go-to guy Nate Berkus, who redid a 1,000 sq ft one-bedroom suite on the 21st floor. Above the bedroom, which we have to say, like most of his designs, we like a whole lot. It’s contemporary, uncluttered, and with interesting patterns, colors, and materials. More shots of the suite, and others, below.

Truthfully, we don’t know if it would be possible to make One&Only Reethi Rah any more luxurious, being the all-villa tropical-island getaway (and celeb-magnet) that it is.

The resort is trying nonetheless, introducing a new accommodation category that removes the understandably fundamental dilemma between wanting your own private pool, which confines you to staying on land, and wanting to see the Indian Ocean right underneath you, which means no pool.

The room decor at The Cromwell is eclectically detailed, mixing a lot of modern with a bit of faux-vintage items. But we were impressed with the luxury touches like the welcome beverages that are given to all guests (we chose sangria), the high-tech Toto Neorest toilet, the Eataly snacks in the pantry and the flat-iron at the vanity.

There was also morning coffee available on our floor at the elevator bank. (No almond milk or iced coffee though, #firstworldproblems.) We especially loved the bright pink Muk Hair toiletries, which left our skin and hair silky soft.

The Valley Ho Hotel in Scottsdale was once-upon-a-time a Hollywood hangout back in the 50s. It has been awarded up and down for its vibe and style, and while it may not have the celebrity status it once did, this week's opening of its new high-end suite shows it still has plenty of star power.

The Presidential Loft Suite is essentially a large apartment with 1,500 square-feet of interior space and a ridiculous 550 square-feet of balcony/outdoor space. Featuring two floors, the downstairs level has a living room, dining room, half bathroom, and a full kitchen. The bedroom is upstairs, with a walk-in closet, washer/dryer, and terrazo-tiled bathroom.

We are kind of at a loss for words right now. We just went into the Hello Kitty Suite at The Line Hotel in Los Angeles and it is all kinds of super kawaii.

The suite was created by a team of designers and artists led by Line designer Sean Knibb in honor of Hello Kitty's 40th birthday, which is also being celebrated with the first official Hello Kitty Con at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in Downtown LA, starting tomorrow. (Knibb was the vision behind the t-shirts on the ceiling at check-in at The Line.)

The Presidential Suite: so fancy, we're only showing you the gilt bathroom

All eyes are on Moscow this week, for the on-schedule opening of the Four Seasons, which unlocks the front door tomorrow. Nothing could possibly take away our Russian focus from this, the redevelopment of the Stolichnaya label building. Edit: nothing could take our focus away unless it’s the news that Russia’s original five-star hotel, the Belmond Grand Hotel Europe in St Petersburg, has just unveiled six new suites, including (sorry FS) the largest presidential suite in town. Only in lux-mad Russia, etc etc.

Because in today’s Russia, a standard room in a crazy-luxury hotel wouldn’t even make the grade on Facebook, let alone Instagram, the hotel has converted 19 rooms into these six suites, and added 24-hour butler service for good measure.

OK have one of the bedrooms too

The 3770 sq.ft Presidential Suite is accessed through a domed, gold-leaf-encrusted lobby, has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a fitness center, dining room, games room, living room (with bar), kitchen, music room (with antique grand piano), hammam and a study-cum-library-cum-secret-door-into-bedroom-one. The price? “Available on request”.

Welcome to Funky Friday, a new segment we’re trying out which features one photo that we think singularly expresses a hotel’s inner psyche. We look for, and often find, a lot of wacky, wild and wondrous designs that seem to have one thing in common: a Type A personality. So why not have a bit of fun as we all wrap up our week by taking a quick look at some hotels that quite frankly, want our attention.

One of our hotel picks for leaf-peeping this season is the all-cottage, no-two-are-alike Winvian, located in northwestern Connecticut. One would never know from the idyllic setting what lies within these standout design cottages. We couldn’t help but notice one in particular, The Helicopter Suite, and we just had to have it for Funky Friday.